Zero Hour-Elysium
by Reaper986
Summary: How did Shepard become the War hero cherished throughout the Alliance and what really happened during the Skyllian Blitz? FShepard,Garrus,Haliat and a ton of OCs. First Fan-Fic so please R&R. Rated M for language and violence. On hiatus for a while.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **Another story based off the "War hero" back-story for Commander Shepard from Mass Effect. I might do the other backgrounds if this one goes well. This is my first fan-fic so bear with me if I'm getting this completely wrong. Oh, and feel free to leave a comment or a review or a parcel bomb if you feel like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Mass effect, it's characters or anything, so no lawsuits EA.

Enjoy.

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Zero Hour-Elysium

Chapter 1: Prologue

_Agebinium_

_18 August 2183_

_35:00 local system time_

Commander Shepard stared at the hologram of Elanos Haliat with an equal mixture of fury, revulsion and desperation. The bastard had them trapped in cave with an armed 20 kiloton fusion warhead.

"Goodbye Shepard" Haliat spoke with a cold, calculating arrogance that infuriated the Spectre but her fury quickly turned to desperation as the bomb's control panel emitted a series of shrill beeps and a flashing red 10:00 appeared on the display. Shepard's mind went into overdrive, quickly weighing all the options: _Run, no we'd never escape the blast in time even if there were an exit which there probably isn't given the sound of that seismic charge. Hide, how? Nothing in this mine would withstand a nuclear blast from __**inside**__ the mine. Which leaves…_

The Spectre didn't waste any more time completing the metaphorical sentence but instead began running towards the bomb while barking out the simple instruction "Garrus!" The Turian instantly understood his commander's intention and sprinted towards the bomb; his Omni-tool flaring to life with dull orange glow.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as they raced toward the instrument of their doom and the commander's mind flashed back 7 years to Elysium where this all began.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Gathering Shadows

_Systems Alliance frigate SSV Marathon_

_On Approach to Elysium_

_26 September 2176_

_18:30 local system time_

1st Lieutenant Shepard made for a striking figure as she advanced through the Marathon's CIC on her way to the Marathon's bridge. Fresh out of N-School she had just received her N6 designation and had every intention of returning to complete her training. Unfortunately due to the nature of N training a candidate could only progress up one designation per year due to the fact that only one set of 9 month courses are held each year which left 3 months of void that the recruits had to fill. Shepard had chosen to ask for a posting that offered space time because after spending 9 months under one of the harshest training programs in the galaxy she needed some time away from Earth. "_Plus there's no substitute for experience._" She thought as she continued her brisk pace through the CIC, the dull orange glow of the Haptic interfaces from a myriad of different consoles bathed the dimly light walls in colour.

The Marathon was a Midway class patrol frigate commissioned 5 years ago for the express purpose of patrolling humanity's sprawling network of colonies. She was built for endurance and could operate for a maximum of 3 months without resupply; this focus on long endurance meant that nearly everything else was neglected: the weapons consisted of only a single ventral mass accelerator and two torpedo tubes, there were only 8 sleeper pods to a crew of 22 requiring continuous "hot-bunking" and the Cord-Hislop Aerospace series 8 kinetic barriers were temperamental and prone to capacitor burn-outs, all in all not the most salubrious posting the Alliance had to offer.

The Marathon had just returned from a two week anti-piracy stint in the Petra Nebula with the 2nd Fleet's 42th Scout Flotilla with Shepard as the marine detail commander and was now on her way back to Elysium for a week's Furlough before continuing on her patrol. As Shepard entered the bridge she saw Staff Commander Hunter, the XO, chatting to the helmsman.

Jack Hunter was relatively short at 5'6 with crew cut brown hair; a swarthy complexion and a stocky build that made him look like he was constantly squaring his shoulders. "_Perfect, this is all I need." _Shepard mused to herself. She and Hunter had been at odds ever since she came aboard mainly because they were polar opposites: She had been a street kid from Earth; he had grown up rich on Terra Nova. She worked her ass off to get promoted; he'd simply name dropped his father and walked out with a commission but most of it was his attitude: his father held one of the conservative party's seats in parliament and he believed this entitled him to all manner of things including instant respect.

"Ah, Lieutenant" he said in his cocky, condescending voice while turning to face her "you're finally here, not that I expect someone like you to be punctual." Shepard's blood boiled at this "_Son of bitch"_ she thought but out loud she said "You summoned me commander." In the most sarcastic, icy tone she could muster. This evidently went right over his head as he simply continued "Yes, I want you to brief your team before we land. I won't tolerate any unseemly behaviour while we're on shore leave got it?" Shepard briefly considered overriding the bridge's airlock and sending Hunter on a tour of space without a helmet but decided against it. "_After all the bridge crew is worth more than this bastard_""Aye sir I'll brief them now." She replied and turned on heel and started back towards the elevator at the centre of the ship that would take her to the staging area on the crew deck.

_Moon of Torfan, Terminus Systems_

_26 September 2176_

_14:00 Citadel Standard Time_

Elanos Haliat was not happy, not that this was an usual occurrence after all one did not become the most feared pirate in the Terminus and the Traverse by walking around grinning, as much as Turians could grin. The reason for his unhappiness lay on the other side of the door he was currently pacing outside of. "_Fucking Batarians" _he thought to himself. "_Should have bombed them back the stone age once we were done with the humans."_ On the other side of the door lay his Batarian contact, the man who had promised him ships, weapons and credits if took control of the Terminus' many pirate gangs and turned them on the humans and while Haliat had become the veritable king of the Terminus Systems pirates the Batarians had been less then generous in their support. The ships they had provided so far had been workable at best and complete death-traps at worst and the weapons had been sub-par. "_At least their cheques clear" _he thought looking for something that wouldn't make him walk into the room and shoot the Batarian in the knees.

"Boss they're ready for you." Said Haliat's second in command Jihral in that strange, grating tone that all Batarians seemed to possess, tilting his head in deference and gesturing to the door he had just walked through. "Let's get this over with then." Haliat growled stalking past his second, two Krogan bodyguards in toe. The room they entered was Spartan to say the least; the roof and walls were jagged obsidian and the floor was the typical prefabricated white material found in outposts across the galaxy. A single metal table with two matching chairs had been placed in the centre of the otherwise bare room to facilitate the current meeting. Haliat's contact was seated on the opposite side of the table from Haliat flanked by four Batarians in full combat gear. "Balak" said Haliat by way of a greeting, "I assume there is a reason for all this melodrama." gesturing vaguely at the four armed Batarians as he sat down in the vacant seat. The Batarian bristled at the comment, eyelids flicking in annoyance. "Yes there is" spoke the captain "We have a… proposition for you." "I'm listening." Elanos answered. He was still less then pleased with the Batarian but he was willing to listen… for now.

"The humans have begun another big push into the Traverse." Balak begun, hints of revulsion apparent in his voice. "A… demonstration of the dangers of the frontier is required." Haliat rolled his eyes, he couldn't care less about the Batarian's little vendetta; he was in this for the money and power not the politics. "Let me guess" he said folding his arms and leaning back in his chair "You want us to hit another passenger ship?" The Batarians features took on a decidedly psychopathic slant as smiled and replied "No, this time we have more substantial in mind." He slid a datapad across the table which Haliat stared down at with first confusion and then shock. "Elysium!? No way we don't have the ships plus there's the defence net we'll never…" The Batarian held up a hand to stop the Turian and gestured for him to scroll down. Haliat did just that and what he saw made him smile "How much?" he said to Balak. "10 million for you and 500 million for your men plus expenses" Balak said standing to leave "and our support for any of your future actions." Balak turned and begun to make for the exit. "Wait," Haliat called after his employer "what should we do with the colonists?" The terrorist captain turned, smiling that malevolent simile again

"Kill them all."

**#**

**Author's Note: **Yes I know in the game Haliat was a human but he was supposed to be a Turian you can check the ME wiki if you don't believe me; I don't want any parcel bombs in my mail.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Calm before the storm

_Illyria Spaceport, Elysium_

_26 September 2176_

_19:17 local system time_

Shepard stepped off the Marathon's gangway and breathed her first breath of un-recycled air in weeks. In wake followed the four other members of the Marathon's ground team: Service Chief Jared Keller was tall at just over 6'1 with an athletic build and handsome features. He was Shepard's second and had proved to be both quite and reliable; offering his opinion only when questioned directly and always responding with a curt "Yes ma'am" to orders.

Corporal Matthew Jackson by comparison couldn't have been louder if tried. At 5'8 he was of average height with a chiselled jaw and hair that military jargon referred to as "high and tight". He had the tendency to be overly verbose both on and off mission and his constant snoring in the pods and not endured him to the Marathon's crew who had christened him "Foghorn" by the third day.

PFC Aleksander Nevski was the squad's tech expert always tinkering with his omni-tool or drone. His face was a perfect ovoid marred only by a deep scar on his left cheek courtesy of a Batarian battle gauntlet. His chocolate brown hair was always invariably greased with wet-look gel a regulation breach Shepard was happy to let slide partly because of Nevski's skill with an omni-tool and partly because it annoyed Commander Hunter.

PSC Samantha Clarke was the other female member of the ground team, fresh out of basic the Marathon was her first deployment not that you could tell thus far she had the model of professionalism on the field a willing friend off of it. Her shoulder length blonde hair was thrown up in a messy bun and at just 20 she was the youngest member of the team.

At the head of this motley procession strode Captain Andrew Webb the commanding officer of the Marathon in full dress blues. At 42 Webb had 2 decades of experience in the Navy and he ruled the Marathon with the sort of hands off approach that only true respect would permit. His stare was the stuff of legend in Navy circles indeed it was that very stare that earned him the nickname "The Quaker" from his subordinates.

As they cleared the gangway by the sight of several empty berths next to the Marathon, indeed the Marathon appeared to be the only military vessel in the docks. "Well shit," Jackson commented looking over the empty berths "where's the fire at." "Probably all out on patrol…" Shepard replied looking troubled. There were supposed to be a bare minimum of two ship stationed on Elysium at all times the lack of a Fleet presence at a time like this was worrying to say the least. "At least we've still got ARTEMIS watching our back." This from Nevski who sounded more like he was trying to convince himself of his own safety than anybody else. The ARTEMIS grid was an orbiting ring of defence satellites ringing Elysium, installed 2 years ago in the face of ever more brazen pirate attacks the system was supposed to "guarantee Elysium's safety for a decade". Each satellite was equipped with four disruptor torpedoes for anti-ship duty and was capable of destroying ships up to 40 000km out. The system was controlled from an orbiting station behind the satellites: the idea being that anyone wishing to disable the grid had to go through it first.

"Come on, enough worrying" chimed in Samantha "after two weeks in that tin can I'm looking forward to a drink... or ten." "Let's head to Aqua after we drop off our gear, first round's on me." Shepard declared. This was greeted by a chorus of "Yes ma'am"s from the assembled team members and together they departed into the Elysian night in search of the solace of drink.

_Reconditioned Batarian Cruiser "Desolator"_

_Torfan orbit_

_27 September 2176_

_06:34 Citadel Standard_

Elanos Haliat stared out of the observation deck on the _Desolator's_ bridge watching the hundreds of tiny, reflective dots that he knew was the fleet he'd built over the last year and a half assemble. The _Desolator _was a reconditioned Batarian Jar'Hara class cruiser; one of several "gifts" from the Hegemony for their service. In fact the majority of Haliat's ships were either reconditioned cast offs, salvaged from military graveyards and sold on the black market, or highly modified merchant ships. Haliat knew that this "fleet" would never survive a direct confrontation with the Alliance and that was why the information Balak had provided was so crucial. Haliat allowed himself a small sadistic smile at the thought of the human's faces. "_Poor fuckers will have no idea what hit em."_

Just then the door to the observation deck ground open and Jihral strode in resplendent in full combat armour. Jihral was a fairly typical exemplar of his species with a dark, red-brown skin tone and pale facial ridges. His one unusual attribute was the lack of a fourth eye, a gift, courtesy of an Alliance marine's combat knife. Instead there was a deep, pale scar where his eye once had been.

Behind him followed the other two members of the pirate's leadership: Ravanor Kurgal was a mountain of a creature, even for a Krogan and this impression was further re-enforced by his scarred green colouration and hulking armour. He was the nominal head of the Grey Death Legion, one of the many (and incidentally the most powerful.) pirate gangs Haliat had united under his banner. The other was an enigmatic Salarian know only as Norotho. I say enigmatic because no one knew what he looked like; he insisted on strutting around in full combat gear with his helmet on so one was constantly talking to a black façade. What was known was that he was head of one of the Eclipse Mercenaries' more powerful chapters.

Haliat had no illusions as to the loyalty of his would-be allies, they were all in this because of a shared interest in wealth and power and he knew the minute those things disappeared the carefully constructed web of alliances would come crashing down around his ears.

"Ah we're all here I see, good then let us begin." Haliat said turning away from the viewport to address them. "What's this about Haliat?" spoke Kurgal in his angry, reptilian voice "I don't like surprises." "All in good time my friend." Said the Turian in a reassuring tone. "We've been contacted by our sponsors for a very interesting little assignment." The Krogan snorted "Another shipping raid, come on Turian you promised us the big time and I'm not a patient man." "Not a shipping raid per se." Haliat said with a knowing smile. "Enough games Haliat speak your mind." Said the Salarian in his helmet filtered monotone, hand dropping to the pistol on his hip to emphasize the point. "We're going after Elysium." Haliat spoke as if he'd just suggested a nice afternoon stroll.

Two heartbeats of shocked silence and then the room erupted in a furore. Jihral's mouth just about hit the floor, Krugal began cackling and muttering something about the turian being as high as a human on red sand, Norotho for his part simply stood there screaming some unintelligible gibberish about his men and their lives. Haliat simply waited for the storm to subsided, feigning interest a non-descript patch of wall. "I have information that will allow us to take the colony." Haliat said when the whirlwind had died down. "You and your men will be well paid plus you'll get to keep whatever you loot. "What is this 'information' and how did you come by it?" questioned Norotho still not fully recovered from his earlier rant. "That's not your concern." Answered Haliat with a dismissive wave of the hand. "Suffice to say it will get us past the colony's defences." "I'm not sending my men on a suicide run just because you say so." Declared Norotho angrily. "Well I doubt your friends have as many qualms as you do." Haliat shot back, "What do you say Jihral?" The Batarian mulled it over for a minute before answering "I'm your man until the end Haliat my men and I will follow you." Haliat smiled and turned to the Krogan. "And you Krugal?" The Krogan shook his head "Your insane Turian, insane enough that you might actually pull this off. I'm in."

Norotho turned his head from side to side looking first at Jihral then at the Krogan before throwing his hands up in exasperation. "You're ALL insane!" he screamed in fury. "This madman," he continued, jabbing a finger at Haliat. "Is going to get us all killed! You don't honestly think…" Haliat deftly pulled out his Armax Arsenal Stonewall pistol and fired one round into the Salarians shoulder stopping him mid rant. Emerald blood splattered across the opposite wall and Norotho went down screaming in agony and clutching at his mangled shoulder. Haliat took two steps forward and jammed his pistol against the Salarians helmet. "Perhaps your second-in-command will be more co-operative." Haliat growled; steel in his voice. "Last chance: are you in or not?"

The Salarian answered in pained gasps. "Our ships are yours…for now."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Coming Storm

_Alliance Security Checkpoint_

_Illyria Spaceport, Elysium_

_27 September 2176_

_20:30 Local time_

"Come on, how long is this going to take?" complained Captain Webb angrily. "I'm sorry sir but I really can't say." Replied the Alliance MP manning the checkpoint nervously "But it'll go a lot faster if you let us do our jobs."

The security checkpoint provided the last barrier between servicemen returning from patrol and the freedom of shore leave. Usually it was a simple matter: Each crew member was checked through the scanner by the MP on duty, any assault weapons such as sniper rifles or shotguns had to be checked into the armoury and could be retrieved after shore leave; the only thing that was allowed past the scanner was the utility knife that each servicemen received after basic training, no exceptions. Normally for a crew the size of the Marathon's this would take maybe 15 minutes tops but unfortunately due to a policy shift whereby each crew member had to be manually searched, questioned and have his or her IDentiCard logged _**before**_ stepping through the scanner this usually routine procedure had taken over an hour.

"_Yet another example of bureaucracy trumping common sense." _Thought Shepard as she waited to be checked through by the MP. Most of the crew had already been cleared the only people left were herself, Webb (who had opted to wait till last), Nevski who was almost finished, two other crew members and Hunter. Shepard smiled wryly "_God help that MP._" If there was one thing that stood out among Hunter's many hates it was his dislike of queues.

"All right, you're clear." Said the dark-skinned MP, handing back Nevski's card and gesturing for him to step through the scanner's blue holographics. As Nevski passed through one of the other crew members, "_Gerald or Graham or something." _Shepard thought but couldn't quite remember, stepped up and handed the MP his ID. At was that this moment that Hunter's not so legendary patience ran out. He barged past Shepard and the crew members, his face red, straight up to the checkpoint pushing Gerald/Graham out of his way.

"Now you listen here," he seethed leaning over the desk that housed the checkpoint's console "I've been waiting for more than an hour while you dick around! Do you even know who I am?! I'm Jack Hunter, William Hunter's son!" The SC stopped clearly expecting some kind of favourable reaction. There was a second of stunned silence then the MP rose out of his chair, came eye level with the Minister's son and said quite calmly. "Sir, I don't care if your father is Santa fucking Clause get the hell back in line before I have you arrested."

"_Ouch" _Shepard thought making a start for the checkpoint "_This isn't going to end well." _Indeed Hunter's face had somehow become even redder and he raised a clenched fist, about to lose it completely. "_Oh no that's not how it's going to go down."_ Shepard's hand came out of nowhere wrapping her Commander's arm in vice grip, stopping Hunter's blow in its tracks. "Get off me!" Jack screamed attempting to wrench his arm free from the lieutenant's iron grip while raising his other to do violence to one or another. Just before the situation degenerated into an all-out brawl Webb decided to step in: more specifically between his two officers using his hands to pry them apart. "Knock it off both of you! I won't have my top officers killing each other." He bellowed fixing both with his trademark stare to emphasize his point. "This isn't over Shepard you're going to be sorry you were even born!" Jack spat fuming. Shepard stared him down an inferno blazing in her eyes. "Do your worst you self-serving son of a…" "That's enough!" the Captain interjected quickly still holding them apart. "Back in line both of you!"

"This isn't over Shepard." Growled Hunter unable to resist one final quip. "_On that we can agree_" Shepard thought giving him a look so hard it could have killed a Krogan. The two belligerents returned to their respective places in the line tension still arcing through the air like the jagged lighting outside.

_MSV Petya_

_Vicinity of the Chandrasekhar Relay_

_Hawking Eta Cluster_

_27 September 2176_

_22:06 Elysian Time_

The Merchant Space Vehicle Petya was a 350 metre long Parabola class cargo vessel of Volus design. Shaped like a capital I with the bridge and crew compartments at the top of the "I" and the engines at the bottom joined together by long crew tube. On the underside of this tube were the 120 magnetic docks for carrying the ships payload; in the form of external cargo containers.

According to the ships registry it was registered to an Epsilon Corporation headquartered on the Citadel. A quick extranet search would reveal that Epsilon was a small start-up shipping company with just two ships specializing in transporting raw materials in the Skyllian Verge.

But everything was not as it seemed: A search for the address of the company's headquarters would lead one to the premises of the Zarthara Bistro on the Presidium, a closer look at the ship's registry would reveal that the ship's previous owner had been killed in a pirate raid and that both ships were in fact stolen property but most telling was the fact that the "raw material" in the crates took the form of 120 fully armed pirates, slavers and mercenaries one to each container.

The Captain of the MSV 'Trojan Horse' was none other than Jihral Ka'Sarum, Haliat's second in command. The ship's reason for being in the Hawking Eta Cluster was as suspect as it's origins but to the casual observer it appeared for all intents and purposes to be a simple merchant ship preparing for a relay jump.

"_That's the beauty of this plan." _Jihral thought observing the relay from the Petya's bridge. "_No one will ever see this coming, let alone the Alliance_."

"Checks complete, we're ready to jump." Said Jihral's Asari helmsman. She was beautiful thought Jihral with her deep aqua marine skin and skin-tight Eclipse armour hugging all of her curvy figure. Of course she wasn't here for her looks; in fact the whole crew of the Petya (With the exception of Jihral.) that wasn't sealed in the cargo pods were Eclipse NetShadows. Eclipse commandos specially trained for Cyberwarfare and electronic subversion and they were here for one reason: to execute the first and most important phase of Haliat's attack.

"Take us out then; no point in sitting around." Jihral answered. The Asari nodded hands flying over the console as she propelled them into the relay and beyond the world of einsteinian physics.

_Near Club Aqua_

_Illyria, Elysium_

_28 September 2176_

_00:03 Local time_

Illyria, the capital of Elysium, was an interesting mix of old and new philosophy; the city centre was all towering arcologies and corporate glass spires. The area around the city centre however more closely resembled traditional sensibilities; wide streets with 2-4 story buildings on either side arranged in a grid pattern.

Club Aqua was located on the city outskirts just an hour from the spaceport and the local Alliance base; Joint Base Sentinel. This central location made a favourite among both marines and naval servicemen on shore leave.

That and the drinks were good.

Shepard cut a striking figure even in her off-duty civvies in this case a simple pair of blue jeans, a black top and a brown leather jacket. She set a quick pace through the rainy Elysian night not rushing but not exactly walking either.

The rain poured down around her pooling in puddles on the black road and gray sidewalk catching the light from dozens of streetlights and holographic signs and blurring them into an indecipherable, reflective menagerie of colours.

Shepard's Omni-tool sprang to life with a harsh electronic beep and dull orange glow. Without slowing her pace Shepard checked the inbound message:

**From: JKeller**

**To: JShepard**

**Everyone's here we're just waiting on you.**

Shepard cursed: she was later than she thought getting her stuff squared away at the base had taken longer than she'd anticipated.

The Alliance provided accommodations for all it's personnel on shore leave usually at the local base or a hotel. Of course this was strictly optional personnel were allowed to stay wherever they wished indeed it was not uncommon for soldiers to buy or rent apartments on the colony they were stationed out of. Even if it was only home for 1 week out of 4.

Shepard couldn't be bothered. When she joined the Alliance she'd had barely a credit to her name and she no point in squandering what little she had on an apartment she might only see for 1 month out of the year.

Arriving at the club Shepard stepped through the "whoosh" variety double doors and into an utterly bizarre landscape.

Club Aqua was so named because of it's aesthetics; namely the walls and roof which were all seamless, giant glass fish tanks filled with a myriad of strange and wonderful sea creatures from a hundred worlds. In the centre of this seascape was a huge cube ,at least 5 meters high, filled with water but was most strange were the two "dancing Hanar" inside. Around the this tank was the club's circular bar and around that was the pulsating dance floor and around the edge of the dance floor were the club's various booths and plush seats.

The whole club really did resemble some kind of strange underwater trapezoid.

Shepard's Omni-tool beeped once more with an incoming message alert:

**Eyes straight ahead LT.**

Shepard raised her eyes and sure enough she saw her team seated at the circular bar waving to attract her attention. Shepard smiled and started for the bar weaving between the club's patrons writhing on the dance floor.

Despite being a human colony almost half of Elysium's population was non-human and this club was no exception to demographics. Shepard could see quite a few Asari and Salarians on the dance floor, there were also a few Turians here and there and Shepard could have sworn she saw a Krogan lumbering around.

Shepard arrived at the bar and sat down on the empty stool next to Jared. "Finally," Jackson said from his seat on the other side of Keller, "We were starting to think you weren't going to make it." "Sorry, I got held up at the base." Shepard replied. "Don't worry," Jared said with a soft simile, "we've been running up a tab for you to pay off." "Great." Shepard groaned "I'm going to be bankrupt by morning."

This drew a laugh from all of them as Shepard flagged down the barman and ordered another round.

_MSV Petya_

_On course for Elysium, Vetus System_

_28 September 2176_

_01:16 Local time_

While Shepard and her squad enjoyed the Elysian nightlife 500 000 km away the Petya continued on it's deadly mission. Jihral wasn't worried the hardest part was already over and that been getting through the Exodus Cluster without alerting the Alliance which had been a lot easier than expected. "_Apparently all you need to sneak past the Alliance 2__nd__ Fleet is a set of fake transit orders._" Thought Jihral chuckling slightly.

Getting from Torfan to Elysium wouldn't be a trivial matter for Haliat's fleet. First they had to jump from the Omega Nebula to Hawking Eta then from there they had to jump to the Horse Head Nebula and from there they had to transit through the Exodus Cluster before making the final jump to the Petra Nebula and Elysium.

Unfortunately for the pirates there were two huge obstacles in their way: the first was the Alliance's 2nd and 5th fleets stationed at Asgard and Arcturus respectively. Both were in striking distance of Elysium and each were capable of decimating Haliat's forces. Crucially the 2nd fleet was right in their way and one would think they would not react favourably if they detected over hundred pirate vessels pouring through their relay.

The second was the ARTEMIS net protecting Elysium itself. Which if left operational would, at the very least, disable most of Haliat's ships.

It was these two obstacles that Jihral had been sent ahead to remove… with extreme prejudice.

"We're about 15 minutes from Elysium." Jihral's Asari helm reported. "Their sensors will pick us up as soon as we drop out of FTL." "Good," Jihral responded. "Wake up the idiots in the cargo pods and tell your Shadows to get ready." The Asari nodded keying the intercom and relaying his instructions.

"_Yes," _Jihral thought. _"The humans have no idea what's coming after them and after today they'll never set foot in the Verge again." _The batarian smiled mirthlessly.


End file.
